2018 Marion-Hartford City, Indiana tornado
|type = EF5 tornado (NWS)|date = April 13, 2018|times = 2349-0131 (1 hour, 42 minutes on the ground)|image location = Nighttime F4.jpg|image caption = The tornado near peak intensity, roughly 5 miles north of Shamrock Lakes.|touchdown = 11 W of Marion, Indiana|winds = 275+ mph (Second strongest tornado in Indiana state history)|injuries = 1,229|fatalities = 304 (Deadliest tornado in Indiana state history, 3rd deadliest in US history)|damage = $100-200 million (2018 USD)|areas = Grant, Blackford, Jay, Delaware and Randolph Counties, Indiana|tornado season = Tornadoes of 2018 and Tornado outbreak sequence of April 13-18, 2018}}the '2018 Marion-Hartford City, Indiana tornado '''is Indiana's worst ever tornado...killing 304 people, compared to the 64 Hoosiers killed in the 1925 Tri-State tornado, as well as the 137 killed in the 2009 Hartford City tornado...it was a part of the Tornado outbreak sequence of April 13-18, 2018, it was the 3rd tornado of the April 13-14 outbreak. The tornado is the third-deadliest in US history, and the fourth-deadliest in history, behind the 1840 Great Natchez Tornado, while still ahead of the 1896 St. Louis-East St. Louis tornado. '''Beginning -' The parent storm to the tornado developed near Danville, Illinois...the storm then moved east producing a deadly EF3 tornado over Crawfordsville, Indiana that killed 1 person at the Crawfordsville Walmart Distribution Center...the storm moved northeast, before producing a second...but much weaker EF1 rope tornado in rural Howard County, the storm strengthened...during the early evening hours, a EF0 rope tornado touched down in rural Grant County, within 10 minutes...Grant County SKYWARN spotters reported a large cone tornado, the EF2 large cone killed it's first victim just outside of Marion...before strengthening into a EF3 wedge. 'Marion -' The tornado hit the western side of Marion around 8:00PM ET as a EF3 wedge, mainly following 26th street into the city...WIWU started covering the event, with a meteorologist even saying "This large and violent tornado is currently tracking along west 26th and 24th street...if you have family in Western Marion, tell them to get to cover NOW! Do not wait, this tornado is causing damages comparable to the 2016 Kokomo tornado...reports by trained spotters show that cars are being thrown around by this tornado...the National Weather Service just declared a TORNADO EMERGENCY for the Grant and Blackford counties...take cover now!" the tornado began to produce mid-range EF4 damage shortly after, around 250 were killed in Marion, mostly in Southeast Marion...as the tornado became a EF5 wedge over Southeast Marion. 'Hartford City -' At 8:30PM, the EF5 wedge tornado...now up to 2 miles wide, was moving into Hartford City...the tornado struck the historic Blackford County Courthouse, destroying it completely...54 people were killed in Hartford City and Converse. 'Ending -' The tornado started to weaken around 9:15PM over rural Blackford County, it was still a EF5 when it entered Delaware and Randolph counties...however it rapidly weakened from there. 'Aftermath -' The exact aftermath of this tornado could not be determined due to several other violent tornadoes in the Marion and Hartford City areas...however, on April 15...the entire state of Indiana was declared a federal disaster zone, with most FEMA funding going into Indiana recovery efforts, which would be slowed on April 18th by another EF5 tornado. Category:Deadly Tornadoes Category:F5/EF5 Tornadoes Category:Violent Tornadoes Category:Catastrophic Tornadoes Category:Indiana Tornadoes